Rich was appointed by two New Jersey governors -- from each political party -- as the Budget Director and Comptroller. He also held two presidential appointments as the Deputy Undersecretary for Finance for the Defense Department and as the CFO for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (with Senate confirmation).

In the private sector, he was a Practice Director for finance at Arthur Andersen and Unisys Corporation and in academia, Rich was the Director of the Policy Research Institute for the Region at Princeton University. He was also the Executive Officer of a Nuclear Missile Battalion in Germany.

Rich is currently an Executive in Residence at the Bloustein School of Planning and Policy, Rutgers University and a Visiting Lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. 

He is a FELLOW of the National Academy of Public Administration in Washington, DC.